Nine House Democrats still waiting for election results in nail-biter contests

Nine incumbent House Democrats are still waiting to learn whether they won or lost.

In all of those races, fewer than 1,000 votes separate the candidates. In some of them, Republicans have declared victory, though none of the Democrats have conceded.

Here’s the rundown of where they stand:

{mosads}In Arizona, two-term Rep. Gabrielle Giffords holds a slight lead over Republican Jesse Kelly. Pima County, home to Tucson, had about 34,500 early ballots and 13,000 provisional ballots to be counted as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the Arizona secretary of state’s office. State law gives officials until Nov. 12 to count the remaining ballots.

In California, Rep. Jerry McNerney held a 121-vote lead over Republican David Harmer as of Wednesday morning, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. But thousands of mail-in and provisional ballots have yet to be counted and a final result isn’t likely before week’s end.

And Rep. Jim Costa (Calif.) is slightly trailing Republican Andy Vidak with more than 100,000 absentee and provisional ballots outstanding.

In Illinois, Rep. Melissa Bean’s GOP challenger has declared victory, but
the three-term congresswoman is not conceding. Republican Joe Walsh leads by fewer than 600 votes with some absentee ballots yet to be counted.

In Kentucky, Rep. Ben Chandler has declared victory even though the result has not been certified and his Republican challenger, Andy Barr,
hasn’t conceded. With 15 of 16 counties in the district reporting,
Chandler leads by 644 votes, according to the Kentucky Board of
Elections’ website.

In New York, freshman Rep. Dan Maffei has lost his lead over Republican Ann Marie Buerkle. After Wayne County, which includes the Rochester suburbs, reported its results Wednesday afternoon, Buerkle took a 659-vote lead, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Before Wayne County reported its results, Maffei had a 5,600-vote lead. County election officials blamed a new voting system for the delay in results. With the race so close, the absentee ballots will likely decide the outcome. Those ballots will be counted over the next three weeks. 

In Texas, Rep. Solomon Ortiz isn’t conceding, although Republican
Blake Farenthold has declared victory. Fewer than 1,000 votes separate
the two. Ortiz’s campaign hasn’t said whether it will request a recount,
but did say: “There are a number of discrepancies that a legal team
will be looking at” in the ballots.

In Virginia, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) holds a slim lead over Republican Keith Fimian, whom Connolly defeated in 2008. Connolly leads by fewer than 1,000 votes and Fimian can request a recount if less than 1 percent separates the two when all the absentee ballots are counted.

In Washington, Rep. Rick Larsen has taken the lead over Republican John Koster. Koster was ahead at the end of Tuesday, but, as of Wednesday evening, Larsen led by 507 votes, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. More results were expected from Snohomish County, the biggest county in the district, later Thursday.